No Regrets
by psquare
Summary: [Yuta x Nina x Tsujai] Sometimes, the greatest of greed can only be realised through sacrifices... but still, he had no regrets. None at all.


**_A/N:_** A few words from me before you proceed…

This is my first fanfic in this fandom, so please **_don't_** go easy on me. Also, writing romance is **_not_** my forte, and this may not be the best of my writing. Plus, I'm not very familiar with the fandom. So, please don't hesitate to point out any mistakes – all constructive criticism will be very much appreciated.

This one-shot is set about two years after the Prince and Maya's marriage. I realise that Nina and Tsujai have admitted their love earlier, so this fic might be slightly AU. Having said that, do read, enjoy, and review!

_**No Regrets**_

_**Yuta**_

"Tsujai? I love you."

"I love you, too, Nina… so much…"

The words faded away as I stepped back from the bush I was hiding in, a grin spreading on my face. My efforts had finally borne fruit: Nina and Tsujai had admitted their love for each other at long last. A love that had crossed all boundaries – magical or otherwise – and persevered through the most bitter of trials. A love that survived much jealousy.

_My _jealousy.

I walked slowly away from the park, hands in pockets, to leave the young lovers alone. Some part of me rebelled – it wanted my hands to go there and rip Tsujai to shreds; wanted me to grab Nina by the arm and plant a kiss on her sensuous lips. It was a part of me that loved her still, a part of me that hadn't given up. Thankfully, my more sensible side prevailed. Nina has never considered me to be anything more than an older brother-like figure, always there to point out her faults, and to guide her when needed. Nothing more.

Nothing less.

I looked toward the full moon, basking in its silvery glow. I suppose I should feel more than just some suppressed anger – I suppose I should feel more passion, more loyalty, more _possessiveness_. Maybe I should've taken advantage of Tsujai and Nina's shyness, and seduced Nina in the beginning. Maybe I should use my magic to tear them apart, even though it was my magic that had finally brought them together.

So many maybes… but none of them were feasible.

"Yuta? Yuta!"

I started at Ayu's voice, swivelling to see the tall, beautiful best friend of Nina's running toward me. When she finally did reach me, she said, "I heard the whole thing, Yuta – Nina and Tsujai have finally done it!"

I nodded. "Finally."

"And it was mostly thanks to you." She tilted her head and looked at me curiously. "Don't you feel…?"

"Miserable?" I laughed shortly. "Maybe, but I'll get over it."

Ayu narrowed her brown-grey eyes. "You'll get over it?" She rolled her eyes. "Is that it? I thought you were deeper than that, Yuta."

I stared at her. "What're you talking about?"

Ayu sighed. "I'm talking about _you_. Your feelings for Nina. I didn't think you'd give up so easily." She tilted her head, a sudden intensity of feeling – of surprised anger – in her eyes. "Is that all your love for Nina has meant to you?"

That question hit me like a ton of bricks, though I showed no change of expression on my face. Did the fact that I gave up on Nina so quickly show that I had had no love for her from the beginning? Was my 'love' just a passing fancy, like so many other girls I've dated before? Did it show the shallowness of my feelings – how _fickle_ they were?

No. It can't be.

"Nina never _loved_ me, Ayu," I said, looking into her eyes, trying to convince her of something even I was struggling to understand. "She had feelings for Tsujai from the beginning. I could see that, even if she couldn't." My eyes finally broke her gaze, looking away. "I, being a man of honour, had to respect her decision, after all…"

"You're giving me a whole load of bullshit, Yuta, but I really don't know what to make of this situation." Ayu sighed. "At least Nina and Tsujai are happy."

That was right… they were happy. But I wasn't! Was it about time I got selfish as well? Was it about time that I started paying attention to my own feelings? So many questions… but no answers! Anger flowed through me, and I felt like tearing my hair apart. It was then that I realised that my conversation with Ayu wasn't doing me any good – I was rather proud of my hair, and I intended to keep every golden strand intact for at least another sixty years.

"Right. Um… Ayu? Isn't Kaji waiting for you, or something?"

Ayu's eyes lit up at the mention of her boyfriend, though she shook her head. "No, but I _do_ need to apply the finishing touches on a project I've been working on for some time…" She looked at her watch. "It's almost eight. Guess I got to be going." She smiled at me – a smile that radiated sympathy and reassurance. "Take care, alright?"

I nodded, and she skipped off, leaving me alone on the pavement once again. Alone with my feelings… alone to churn in my inner turmoil.

I started walking again, though it was this time with leaden steps, as if the execution of each step sucked the energy from every reserve of strength I had in my body.

_I shouldn't feel this way_, I thought. And it was true… I was the one who had striven so hard to bring the shy couple together at last, wasn't I? I was the one who had taken the task like a challenge, making use of my magic at every possible opportunity to get them together… to get them to say those golden words I had heard from their lips just a few minutes ago.

And yet…

It was no fickle thing, love. How much ever I thought that I'll be able to bury my feelings for Nina – feelings that had been fostered within me since childhood – I will never be able to forget her.

_Never…_

I closed my eyes, hands in pockets, and needles in throat – fighting back the inevitable that rushed to my eyes. Will I live my whole life with such… such…

"Yuta."

I froze, still not opening my eyes. The word had been spoken with such unique affection, and the voice held such cheer, that I knew it could belong to only one person. I turned around slowly.

It was Nina.

She smiled that usual insanely cheerful smile of hers, tilting her auburn head as she did so, as was her habit. "Long time no see," she said, stepping closer to me. Close enough for me to sense waves of Tsujai's aura coming off her body. "I'm glad I was able to catch you now."

I forced a grin on my face. "Oh, really?"

"Really." Her gaze turned serious. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

I really didn't want to hear it again – not from her very lips. Hearing Nina say it herself put a sort of magical seal of finality on the whole thing, and I didn't think I could bear it. But… I couldn't get her suspicious. I was supposed to be her friend, after all, right?

"Okay," I said. "What is it?"

"Tsujai and I… he… he _loves_ me, Yuta!" Her eyes shone like stars. "Just as I do him…"

I was glad she couldn't hear the crumbling of my heart just then.

"It was wonderful…" she said, closing her eyes as she remembered that moment. "I wish it could've lasted forever, but… he had to go home…" She smiled. "Sometimes Earth is far more superior to the Magic Kingdom, I think."

I forced a laugh, praying that she did not hear the tremor in my voice. "You'd better be careful and ensure that your words don't reach the ears of your grandfather." I put on a mock expression of shock on my face. "He would explode if he knew that his precious grand-daughter uttered such _blasphemy_!"

Nina laughed, and I smiled in satisfaction. At least I still had that effect on her. "Yeah, he would…"

Abruptly her tinkling laughter stopped, and the serious expression settled like a mask once again over her face. "Yuta, I _know_."

I started. "What?"

"I know what you've been doing, Yuta – only too well," she said in a rush. "Just because I'm not a genius at magic like you doesn't mean that I can't sense the times you used your magic to bring myself and Tsujai together, and…"

"Nina." I looked into her eyes. "Why didn't you…?"

"Why didn't I say anything?" She shrugged. "I knew you had a reason, and one doesn't have to be, to use a popular Earth expression, 'Sherlock Holmes' to deduce what your feelings are… were." She averted her eyes. "You know, before I came to Earth, I… I thought I liked you and you… I mean, you liked me as well, and…" She shook her head. "You were never more than a friend, and I am so glad you stayed that way, otherwise I'd have never gotten together with Tsujai."

I stared at her. _What? She… she actually used to like **me**? _"But… but… then I _did_ have a chance with you!" I blurted.

She looked back at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I did have a chance with you," I repeated softly. "If only I had realised sooner, maybe…"

"A chance for what?" She was still confused, but somewhere within the brown depths of her eyes, I could see that she was beginning to realise what I was talking about.

"I loved you, Nina," I said honestly. "I really did. I couldn't tell you, because in many ways I hadn't realised it _myself_. When I _did _realise, however, it was too late." I took a deep breath, trying to steady my bubbling emotions. "You and Tsujai… you two are meant for each other. I saw that, and… I did what I could, as a friend, to bring you two together."

By God, telling all that felt so _good_! Ayu had been the only one who had discovered the truth – quite some time ago, by accident. She was the only confidant I had – a confidant whose reassurance was inhibited by my ego. Now that I had told _Nina_ everything, my soul won't be a simmering volcano of suppressed emotions anymore…

"Oh Yuta," Nina whispered, taken aback. "I didn't think…" To my chagrin, tears pooled in her normally cheerful eyes. "I'm so sorry."

I held her hands in a gesture of reassurance. "You don't have to feel sorry at all, Nina. Nothing was ever your fault." I squeezed her hands gently. "Please don't cry."

"No…" She swallowed. "You must be feeling so hurt; believe me, I know how that feels, and I don't want you hurt that way by anyone, ever." More tears rushed to her eyes. "Especially me."

I felt the muscles in my own jaw clenching as I fought back tears of my own. Yes, tears. Wasn't I allowed to cry? Couldn't even the most cold-hearted magic genius cry at a display of such genuine affection? I was truly lucky to have a friend who cared for me so much despite all the times that I've relentlessly teased her… a friend whose purity I didn't want to taint with my own feelings, which seemed small and selfish compared to the magnanimity of her nature.

"Nina, believe me, I'm not hurt." I gave a small smile. "In fact, I think that this experience has left me with an even greater gift than your love, Nina – your friendship. That's all I need, I assure you."

She smiled weakly. "Thanks, Yuta. That… that means a lot."

I nudged her lightly. "Never paid attention to Mr. Makami's classes in your school days? 'A lot' is not even a word, you know."

Her smile widened. "Maybe you're right – I never did pay attention to Makami's classes. He was in the nurse's office most of the time, anyway." She shook her head. "The poor man was unlucky enough to get the locker that served as the portal between the Magic Kingdom and the Earth. I think he turned mad in the end."

I grinned and bowed. "Courtesy of Miss Nina, of course. You always have way of making men mad…"

She laughed. "Yuta!"

I was glad to hear her laughter again. The sweetness was such that could never be paralleled, by magic or otherwise…

"Yuta?" she called.

"Hmmm?" I looked down at her, before a sudden wet softness touched my lips, sending tendrils of pleasurable fire down every nerve of my body. My spine tingled with the intensity of the moment, and I experienced a pleasure that could not be emulated by even the most advanced magic I practiced. Heaven…

Finally, she broke the kiss, smiling shyly. "A farewell present," she said. I understood.

Nodding, I let go of her hands. "Good Luck with you and Tsujai," I said sincerely, feeling no heaviness in my heart for the first time since I discovered that Nina loved Tsujai.

"Thanks," she said. "I'll be seeing you around soon, right, Yuta?"

"Right. Bye then, Nina."

She was off then, her long auburn hair bouncing behind her, the moonlight reflected off it. Soon her silhouette faded away as she moved farther away from me, but no longer did I feel that heavy symbolism that she had moved away from my mind's reach as well. No, she was even _closer_ now than ever before.

I smiled. Sometimes, your greed is revealed through your sacrifices…

But all that speculation was of no consequence now. She had got what she wanted, and I had, too – though I didn't realise it at first. The world had started spinning again, and life suddenly seemed fresh, and full of endless possibilities…

I started walking down the road again, feeling the cool, invigorating breeze against my face. I hadn't thought I was capable of such nobility, but now I realise it hadn't been nobility at all. It had been a means to picture myself in a sacrificing, heroic light – what other obstacle could there be between me and prising Nina and Tsujai's relationship apart? Nothing, except…

Nina herself.

But even after facing defeat, I still felt as if I was the person who had gained the most. And what's best, I had no worries now about what had happened, no more lingering sorrow. I was back to being my own man again, back to being the silent, smirking, and too-smart-for-his-own-good kind of guy. The portal to the Magic Kingdom opened in front of me, and the soft golden light from within played upon my ash-blond hair. Smirking now, I ascended.

_No regrets_.

_**Finis**_


End file.
